Suspensions Are Down In Nashville Schools, But Racial Disparity Persists

Metro Schools has been able to reduce the number of students sent home for discipline problems. But the racial disparity is unchanged, according to district leaders who spoke at a community meeting Thursday night.

The school system has been working to improve statistics from two years ago that found black students make up 44 percent of all students but 71 percent of all suspensions and expulsions.

Lorraine Stallworth is the school system’s community outreach specialist. She spoke Thursday night at a meeting hosted by NOAH, which stands for Nashville Organized for Action and Hope. Stallworth says she has taught plenty of “knuckleheads” and claims taking a student out of the classroom does not teach them anything.

“Our children are coming damaged with all kinds of issues, and if we don’t begin to change the game a little bit and look at our children in a different way — find ways to love them still — then we are going continue to suspend and feed that school-to-prison pipeline.”

Stallworth and other school officials want students to meet with trained staff to talk about the underlying cause of bad behavior, rather than be sent home or to the principal’s office. This means the district needs more guidance counselors and support staff.

The Metro school board formed a special equity in discipline committee this month.

There’s also been a series of Youth Violence Summits organized by Mayor Megan Barry. The final meeting is Saturday at Tennessee State University’s Avon Williams campus.